


Style

by INMH



Series: trope-bingo Fanfiction Fills 2018 (2nd Half) [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Drama, F/M, Family, Fluff, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 18:45:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15249666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/INMH/pseuds/INMH
Summary: Kara experiments; Luther admires.





	Style

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: I am _perplexed_ by the hair situation in DBH.
> 
> So, androids have different hair color options available to them- okay, simple enough.
> 
> But... If, when an android deactivates their skin (which I assume is an illusion?), their HAIR also disappears... Then how is Kara able to cut it?? How is North able to LENGTHEN her hair??
> 
> I AM TORTURED BY THIS CONUNDRUM. THE MIND BOGGLES. END MY SUFFERING.
> 
> (tl;dr I don't know what The Deal Is with android hair in the DBH universe, so I just kind of went with what worked for the story without overthinking it.)

Kara sat in front of the mirror, hands on her lap.  
  
She had been playing with the idea of changing her hairstyle lately. Long, medium, short, blonde, brown, white, black- she had choices now, a wealth of them, and she couldn’t quite decide on what she wanted. Her current style of short hair was nice, but she was bored of it; she wasn’t partial to color, but knew it was best to avoid her original coloring for the time-being. Canada had been a relief, but it was not paradise- they had to stay low-key, or else risk deportation.  
  
“If Markus makes new laws,” Alice suggested casually as she’d filled in a coloring book on the kitchen table. “Then we can go back to Detroit, right?”  
  
Kara had been taken aback by the suggestion. “Do you _want_ to go back to Detroit, Alice?”  
  
“People weren’t very nice there,” Luther added.  
  
Alice shrugged. “People aren’t very nice _here._ ”  
  
She wasn’t wrong. There were plenty of Canadians upset about the influx of illegal immigrants into the country, especially given the drama that had erupted in the United States only recently. Canada had never had androids, and had been resisting Cyberlife for years to avoid the devastating effects that androids had had on the American economy; tensions were high, and while they wouldn’t shoot androids on sight just for being androids, the authorities were completely willing to send them back over the border to the U.S.  
  
There’s was a small house, the kind of small that would make humans who could afford to choose uncomfortable. It was lucky that she and Luther and Alice were all androids that didn’t require food, and Rose was able to bring them blue blood that she got from one black market source or another. She and her brother, Blake, had assured them that they wouldn’t be bothered there, but all Kara could think of was that surprise visit from the police officer at Rose’s house.  
  
Kara suspected that one day, maybe sooner than later, it would be prudent to return to Michigan and live in the world Markus was trying to secure for them. Canada was becoming restless, and at least the U.S. was starting to make progress; better to go back quietly and willingly than to be shoved back in with legal fanfare. In the meantime, they all had to stay off the radar, stay unrecognized and quiet.  
   
Can’t raise suspicions.  
  
Kara set her hair to its default style: **MEDIUM, BLONDE.**  
  
Short, in this context, wasn’t as short as it had been when she’d cut it at the squat. She’d given herself a pixie-cut, and for her model, ‘short’ meant hair that hung just a little past her shoulders. The default style was the most common for the AX400s of her make, most owners never needing to pick their android out of a crowd at a moment’s notice, most not caring if their android was distinct from all others (inasmuch as an AX400 with thousands of counterparts on the market could be distinct from all the others), most not caring about their android’s individuality because androids weren’t supposed to _have_ a sense of individuality.  
  
Kara changed the length: **SHORT.**  
  
Her hair now hung to her neck, in a sort of bob-cut. She frowned, wrinkled her nose- pixie-cut, sure, medium-cut, sure, but this she didn’t like. It made her look… Well, it made her look like something she wasn’t. Besides, she didn’t like the weight of it, didn’t like the way the ends of her hair tickled her neck.  
  
Kara changed it again: **LONG.**  
  
This was better. Now it was halfway down her back, lengthy without being so long that it could interfere with the household tasks that AX400s were expected to complete. Still, it was longer than what was expected for her series, and she liked it.  
  
Now for the color.  
  
Blonde was out, and that was fine because Kara had kept it that way when she’d cut it at the squat, content that the shortness was enough to stop her from being recognized, and worried that any further change might alarm or otherwise alienate Alice, with whom she’d still be a little distant. But Alice loved her now, and Kara was confident that love would endure regardless of any aesthetic changes she made to herself. Of course, she’d have to decide on those changes for it to even become an issue.  
  
**BROWN.**  
  
It only took a cursory look to dismiss it. Brown wasn’t too much of a change from blonde, really, since Kara’s ‘blonde’ was a darker shade on its own.  
**  
** **WHITE.**  
  
Interesting. It was certainly pretty, very eye-catching, especially with the length of the hair… But that was a problem, wasn’t it? Obviously there were humans that cut and colored their hair in odd ways, but white was a distinctly eye-catching and unnatural hair-color on someone Kara’s- well, her _perceived_ age, anyway. And while it wasn’t a normal choice for her series of AX400, it drew attention to her, and the more attention she drew, the more likely she was to be recognized by someone familiar with her series. No, white was nice, but too risky. Maybe for a different day and time.  
  
(She had _time_ now- what a thought.)  
  
**BLACK.**  
  
Thankfully, the last of her options had possibility. Kara’s hair was now a deep, shiny black, and aesthetically it looked good long. She pulled it over her shoulder- yes, yes, this did look good, and it had the bonus of making her look very little like her series. No one would look at her and immediately think _this is an AX400 android._ It was pretty, and Kara _liked_ it.  
  
Yes. Yes, this would do.  
**  
** **CLOSE AX400 HAIRSTYLE EDITOR MODE?**  
  
YES    NO  
  
_[YES]_  
  
“I like it.” Kara nearly jumped out of her seat, hands flying forward to brace herself on the small vanity. Luther, for his impressive size, moved ridiculously quietly- she hadn’t even heard him come inside from playing with Alice in the snow. He gave her that small smile of his, the one that seemed reserved for her. “Sorry to startle you.”  
  
Reflexively, one hand came up to touch her head, belatedly registering the compliment. “You do? I mean, you like it?”  
  
Luther stepped into the room. It wasn’t a big room, and big as he was, it only took a step or two to reach her. His hand came up to brush at her hair, gently sliding the straight, black locks between his fingers. “I do,” He rumbled.  
  
Kara felt something hot and complex inside her. Her relationship with Luther had always been a little strange, as they’d at first both primarily been united over their mutual love for Alice. ‘Friends’ sounded too casual for what they’d shared; ‘family’ sounded better, but there was something else there as well, something that existed between each other that did not exist between them and Alice. Luther was so quiet, so hard to read, and she’d had so little interaction at length with anyone else, Kara wasn’t entirely sure if she was interpreting him correctly half the time.  
  
Like right now, with him touching her hair the way he was, _looking_ at her the way he was- her social-interaction programming suggested a ninety-percent probability that this was a romantic interaction. But was it _Luther’s_ way of interacting romantically, or was it simply his was of showing familial intimacy? He’d said himself his series had been built for lifting heavy loads, not for social interaction or caretaking, so maybe he didn’t realize how her programming interpreted this?  
  
_What do I do?_  
  
The moment lasted forever.  
  
Then it ended. Luther lowered his hand.  
  
“Alice wanted to know if you wanted to help us build a snowman.” Luther frowned, cocked his head a little. “She was mumbling a little song about it. I don’t know where it’s from.”  
  
Kara recovered quickly. “Of course. I’ll get my coat.” She didn’t need it, but it was another matter of blending in: It was December in Canada, and any human who wasn’t insane was wearing a coat. But Luther did not leave, and Kara felt his eyes on her back as she pulled her coat from the closet and pulled it on, fishing the gloves out of her pocket and slipping those on too. She turned around and hesitated, meeting Luther’s eyes. “You really think it looks good?”  
  
Luther smiled again. “Yeah. But you always look good.”  
  
Kara couldn’t blush as deeply as a human could, but her cheeks turned a little pink anyway. “Thank you.”  
  
Luther stood back, motioned for her to step out ahead of him. “You’re welcome.”  
  
Kara stepped past him, the soft blush enduring.  
  
The probability of a romantic interaction was ninety-eight percent now. She’d have to deal with that eventually.  
  
Not today, though. Not yet.  
  
They had time.  
   
-End


End file.
